Only For A Night (Hak x Yona) One-Shot
by existentialcrisis666
Summary: It's the night of the Awa feast and Yona wanders off to practise the sword. She encounters Hak in the woods and comes to confess, giving in to her desires and tempting Hak out of his shell of self-restraint. warning: ANGSTY AF. Proceed at your own risk :)


(this one picks up after the battle at Awa with slight changes in the turn of events. Also, SMUT ALERT! ...aaaaaaaand I guess that's that. Drop me a comment if you want to, that'd be great! Also, this is a one-shot and I was just, to put it mildly, fantasizing and this led to that and well, you know the rest lol. Anyway, I'll stop. Thanks for reading!)

It has been an extension of a day of feasts and revelries. Amidst the drunken laughter of the pirates and the pleasant reconciliation of the women with their families, Awa is in smiles.. and so am I. I finally have something to celebrate, something worth appreciating in the series of incidents that have befallen me, and in succession, Hak.

Ki-Ja is out in the corner, drunk and laughing, surrounded by women appreciating his dragon's claws. Yoon is busy in his attempts to stitch up the wounds of the reckless pirates who are too occupied with reveling to care about their injuries. Shin-Ah is wrapped in his fluff, having passed out under the influence of the alcohol, the squirrel curled up right next to him. Jae-Ha is nowhere to be seen, although the faint notes of his lullaby actively lends the night a sense of serenading enchantment.

My eyes scourge the area. Hak is nowhere to be seen, though. I worry about him. I wonder if he is out in some corner spending the night with some woman in a fit of fiery passion. After every turmoil, every obstacle, everything we've been through, Hak's absence always stirs a sense of inadequacy in me, it leaves me feeling incomplete. My mind wanders off to whether he is perfectly safe whenever I can't see him. I know that he is perfectly capable of taking care of any danger that could dare approach him, but Hak has no dragon's strength. The thought of him being in trouble, of being alone and helpless leaves me anxious. So, I scurry and sneak a dagger off a very drunk pirate, swearing to myself that I will return it once I am done practicing my swordsmanship.

As I walk away from the port, the noise and commotion fades away and Jae-Ha's lullaby gets more pronounced. It is beautiful, to say the very least.

I find a patch of land, surrounded by a couple of trees with its back to cliff, away from the eyes of the townsfolk. Hak refuses to teach me swordsmanship. He says it's too dangerous.. that bows and arrows are a totally different thing altogether.. but he doesn't understand.. I can't use him as a shield to protect myself, it is unfair. Hak is bound by his promise to my father. And sometimes, I feel that I have taken away from him that one thing humanity holds the dearest... freedom.

But I cannot allow Hak to put his life on the line for me. I should be allowed a chance to fight as well, I should be allowed to stand up for the weak, I should be strong, I NEED to be stronger, I tell myself as I swish the dagger in the moves that I remember watching Shin-Ah draw. I need to be better, I tell myself, I need to protect Hak, I need to be fair to him. I agree.. I am not strong enough to protect him yet. But I will try to be. I must. I swerve around and flick the dagger again, I must be strong. I must be strong.

I must be strong.

A sudden clang of metal against metal jerks me awake from my reverie of willfulness. As I look up at the face of the man, from knuckles stretched white with the grip of the blade to the veins on the back of his hand, from the black ribbons tied around the sleeves of his forearm to the broad chest that rises into a sleek neck, from that strong chin to the sharp nose, from the staunch eyes to the frantic disarray of his hair, I realize that it's Hak.

And my heart flips out.

He didn't want me to practise swordsmanship. And here I am defying his orders. A part of me is glad that he is not off with another woma—I mean, I am just glad to see him again.

The blue of his gaze holds me, as undecipherable as it is. He loosens his grip and drops his hand.

"..you should not be out here alone.." he says indifferently, almost like me practising with a dagger doesn't go against everything he vouches for.

".. Hak, I—" I start to say but he shushes me, a slender finger pressing gently against my lips.

"Don't worry, I am not mad. Just.. scared." He says as he places his blade back into the sheath in his boots.

Promptly, I proceed to sheathe my dagger when he breaks off eye contact and stares off into the direction of the sea waves crashing against the shores, "It's just that you're becoming so reckless, you're struggling so much.. and it breaks me to watch you with blisters and bruises but it is part of learning and I understand that it's important. But I get this treacherous desire to keep you safe and sound, tucked away from danger, where no harm could reach you.. and here you are.." a ghost of a smile appears on his face, "..dancing with a blade in the middle of the night."

I smile as I find myself gazing at the same nothingness as him as my fingers quietly interlace with his. Initially he doesn't respond to my touch, frozen as he stands, his head lost in the realm of his thoughts but a couple of seconds later, his fingers respond, engulfing mine as he proceeds to smile down at me. I prepare myself for a snarky retort but he just responds with, "your eyes look beautiful in the moonlight."

We stand there for a while, letting the silence engulf us, before Hak plops down to the ground. I follow suit, careful to not disturb our interlaced fingers. Having Hak's fingers against mine makes me feel unbelievably safe and secure, the heat of his hands keeping me warm.

As I lean my head against his strong arm, I can feel the sculpted muscles underneath. "I don't know where I would be if it weren't for you, Hak." I say.

"where indeed" he smirks, but the smirk doesn't touch his eyes.

"I never got around to telling you how important you are to me, Hak." I tell him, "Sometimes, I worry about you. You're always so reckless. I know you can handle yourself but.." I sit up on my knees and block his vision of the distant stars. Raising my spare hand to his face, I compulsively touch his cheek, "..you are human after all. If anything ever happens to you, I'll never be able to forgive myself."

Hak's body freezes in my hands, except for the gasp of surprise at our proximity, he sits like stone. The night is quiet. Jae-Ha has stopped playing. The only thing I can hear is the wind swooshing past our heads and Hak's throbbing fingers entwined in my left hand.

It wasn't until Hak slowly lifted our intertwined fingers and used his thumb to gently wipe something moist from under my eyes that I realized that I had been crying.

"Princess.." He begins, his eyes like orbs bathed in pain, "if anything ever happens to you, I will kill myself and foll—"

I clasped my hand over his mouth, "Don't you EVER say anything like that." His lips were unexpectedly soft and warm under my palm.

"say Princess," he says with a smilr, his voice clouded with doubt and his eyes masked in pain, "have you had too much to drink tonight?"

My right hand drops from his face, "..why would you say something like that?"

Something flickered in his eyes the second that point of skin-contact broke, "No, I.. nothing.. it's just.."

He breaks eye contact and stares at the forest floor, "you're being awfully.." it takes him a moment to find the right word, "..nice to me, tonight."

I narrow my eyes at him accusingly, "Hak, you're the one who's never nice to me, you arrogant man."

"Oh am I arrogant now?" He laughs, but like always, the smile never reaches his eyes. It makes me sad.

Quietly, I lean in an inch towards his other cheek. Hak freezes at the first sliver of movement that I express. I couldn't be sure but I am fairly positive that I felt a twitch or two in his right hand, the one that I have claimed for myself.

Careful to not startle him, I plant the softest of kisses on the other cheek, while he sits as still as a stone. I draw back and try to smile at him but my stomach does a double flip as I look into his eyes which have darkened and now mirror a kind of thirst I haven't seen in them before.

"Princess.." he breathes, his voice coming out in a short gasp, "I'm sorry."

Before I can ask why, his lips are already on mine. They are warm and soft and they taste of sweet liquor and cinnamon. His restless hand is already on my waist, holding me firmly in his reassuring grip. My stomach feels like it's going to explode while my skin turns out to be hypersensitive to his touch. I shake my left hand out the entanglement with his right and he freezes immediately, his pulse echoing off his lips, his chest heaving. My hands find their way to his neck and into his hair as instinctively, I pull him closer.

"Princess.." his voice is almost a growl, toned down with strain, "you need to stop.."

"Hak.." my voice sounds foreign to me, my senses hyperaware of his physical stance as I wind my fingers in his hair and feel the supple curve of his neck "please don't stop.."

A fiery gleam manifests in his eyes as my hand wanders off and traces the contours of his chest, tugging at his robe. He shrugs out of his overcoat, picking me up effortlessly as his lips graze my neck, leaving my nerves in an even greater mess than what I've made of his hair.

In one swift movement, he pins me to the ground, looming over me with the kind of hunger that makes me want to bury my face in his chest. His hands undo my cloak and trace their way up my legs while his lips nibble at my ear. Every touch leaves he shuddering. His hands climb up the curve of my back as I finally force the robe off him.

His lips against my collar had coaxed embarrassing moans from my lips. As Hak tugged at my robes with his teeth, my hands traced the supple muscles flexing on his back and my mind was barely working. All I was aware of was Hak and the intoxicating smell of his skin, the feel of his muscles flexing beneath my fingers, giving in to some ancient desire, the low grumbles building in his throat every time my nails dig into his skin as his face inches closer to my chest.

I have never felt this before. Every moment feels like coming undone, every touch of his lips feels like fire on my skin and it burns like ice. The closer I pull him in, the worse it gets, the worse it feels, the feeling of wanting someone.. so desperately that it makes your insides ache. I am so close, so close to dying of a ravenous euphoria that I never knew existed.

As a moan dies out in my throat, Hak withdraws. He sits up beside where I was lying and sits unmoving. I almost want to question him what's wrong but he just sits and stares at the forest floor, only in his breeches, his chest heaving in the moonlight.

"I can't do this Princess." He shakes his head sadly, "I can't take advantage of your drunken state."

"..but I'm not drunk!" I protest, "how could I be I've only just had a little sake."

"why don't we.." he stares at me with his lopsided grin, "check out how willing you are to continue this when we are sober?"

"..are you not sober?" I corner him.

His eyes devour mine as he replies, "my robe wouldn't be under you if I were."

"…but Hak.."

"Look Princess," he says as he pulls my clothes back into place, "I just proved that I am perfectly capable of seducing you, do you really want to know what happens next?"

"..but Hak.." I try to protest.

"nuh-uh" he holds a finger on my lips, a sad grin spreads over his face, "My feelings for you have never been reciprocated and they probably never will. This night will go down in your memory as the one that never happened. Go to sleep, Yona."

"wait what Hak—"

"shhhh.. Go to sleep. I'll take you where the others are."

"what hey what Hak NO." I say.

Hak's face is a mask of confusion.

"I will stay here and sleep here because it's peaceful and quiet. And you'll stay with me."

"I almost did." He whispers under his breath, which I pretend to not hear.

"Princess, you must be drunk." He shakes his head as he settles down next to me and I don't have the willpower to tell him that I really am not. "Why else would you be here with me. You have no reason to. You just need a drunken escapade, and I would've been more than happy to comply, except that I am not."

He pauses and looks up at the sky as he contemplates something, conflict brooding in his eyes, "You don't want to do this, trust me. There is no going back, Princess. And you need to be with the man you love not with some lowlife servant who doesn't mean squat to you. And I get it, you might be able to push it away, forget it altogether.. and pretend it never happened.. but.. I really am selfish now aren't I?"

He turns and crouches closer to me, his mouth rejecting the fire in his eyes, "I would never be able to stop myself ever again, Yona. It would kill me, every second from that point onwards.. it would kill me to look at you and remember all of it. To remember how.." he reaches put and traces my collarbone with his nimble fingers, "your skin felt under my touch, how.." he picks my hand in his palm and raises it to his cheek, "how it still gives me goose bumps, your flesh against mine", his eyes burn into mine as he rubs a gentle finger against my lips, "how soft and warm your lips were, red and quivering", He drops my hand and lowers his head as he lets his palms hold him from kissing the forest floor, "or how wild it drove me when your hands were on my back, digging into my skin.. I was so close" his voice falters, "so close to letting myself go and let you consume me.. but I can't.." he shakes his head tentatively, "I'm sorry Yona, I can't. It will all just bring me more pain, accentuate my plight and challenge my self-restraint. It's for your sake Yona.. but mostly mine.. that I have to go now."

"Hak!" I rise and run and hug him from the back as he tries to walk away, "please don't leave me alone. Please. Only for a night."

Once again, skin against skin makes me hungry but all I can hear is his heart drumming relentlessly against his chest, his breath irregular as I feel the electricity flowing in his veins, "Hak, I.. every time you are gone.. you worry me. There's this.. contentment that comes from being near you, but I don't know what it is.. Sometimes, the way you look at me, it sets my pulse racing but I never know why. Even now, I can't let you walk away, Hak. I will be lying to myself if I say that it is because you have sworn yourself to me and that is why you cannot defy my orders, but you can walk away, Hak.. if you want to.. just. Not tonight." I cling tighter to his back, the top of my head almost grazing his shoulder blades, "please Hak. Only for a night."

He turns his head slowly, "Princess.. I don't.. understand.."

"Do you really want me here?" he faces away from me, but his voice is shaking, I can tell. I let go of him and walk around to face him, standing on my tiptoes the best I could and reach out to touch his face, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Hak smiles, but like always, the smile never touches his eyes. So sad, his eyes are so sad. "Tell me Hak" I whisper against him as he lays me down and slips in beside me, my head on his chest, "..why are your eyes always sad?"

"Because this is a dream." He says softly, his hand in my hair, going round in circles and lulling me to sleep, "And soon, I will wake up."

"we don't have to wake up." I protest, "we can stay like this forever."

"I wouldn't have it any other way" he remarks as he kisses my forehead, "but you have a land to fix, a kingdom to conquer—"

"sshhh.." I whisper as I trace the veins in his forearm, "that's all for tomorrow.. Tonight.." I raise my head and kiss the hollow of his neck, a smile breaking on my face as i can hear the distant descant of Jae-Ha's lullaby, ".. is mine."


End file.
